Presiding over the Opening Eucharistic celebration at 9:00a.m. at the historic seminary Church of St Jospeh, Bishop Stephen Lee welcomed the delegates and participants of the FABC Meet in Macau. Bishop Lee said that the gathering was a convergence of graces as the Catholic Diocese of Macau celebrates its 450th anniversary this year and the urgent question of how to communicate Christ in the age of AI. Bishop Stephen Lee was joined at the altar by Cardinal Francis Sebastian of Penang, Malaysia, and Bishop Marcelino Antonio “Junie” Maralit Jr. of San Pablo, Philippines, chairman of FABC-OSC, alongside other bishops and priests participating in the assembly and a number of Macau clergy.
The Bishop of Macau presented a reflective thought based on the day’s gospel of Luke which present Jesus going up the mountain to pray, where he spent the night in communion with the Father, then choosing his disciples thereafter. He emphasized the movement that took place: prayer, selection, descent, encounter, healing, a pattern, he said of all authentic evangelization.
As the FABC will gather to tackle this concern, Bishop Lee emphasized that the “crowd” that seek healing is increasingly found in digital platforms. Recalling Pope Leo’s encyclical Magnificat Humanitas that “speaks to this new Arepagus, warning against a technocratic paradigm that reduces the human person to data and efficiency, while calling us to ensure that technology serves the common good and safeguard human dignity.” Hence, the challenge now is how to communicate Christ in a landscape shaped by IA. This is particularly important not only for Macaua but also for the Church in Asia. As evangelizers this means moving from merely “influencers “ to being witnesses: to actively shifting its digital strategy from creating mere online personalities to fostering genuine human witness, guided by major Vatican initiatives and global assemblies addressing the rise of artificial intelligence.
Bishops Lee’s message echoes Pope Leo’s conclusion of the July 29 Jubilee Mass with digital missionaries and Catholic influencers in St. Peter’s Basilica: “In an ever-evolving era of technological advancement, including the adoption of artificial intelligence, Catholics in the digital space must focus on being authentic witnesses rather than providing endless streams of content, Pope Leo XIV said.” The Pope added: “It is not simply a matter of generating content, but of creating an encounter between hearts. This will entail seeking out those who suffer and need to know the Lord, so that they may heal their wounds, get back on their feet and find meaning in their lives.”
The meeting will culminate on October 31 with an talk presentation in the Cathedral of Macau by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization and dean of the College of Cardinals. He will also preside over a thanksgiving mass for the 450th anniversary of the Diocese of Macau on the same day.